‘Develop your own taste and buy art from a credible source.’

A popular online platform for arts and collectibles, Saffronart has conducted auctions in Indian art, Western art, fine jewels, books, watches etc. In an interview with Pradip Kumar Saha of The Mint, Nish Bhutani, the company COO offered some valuable insights into online auctions and precious tips to collect art:

Concept of online auction:

• There are major advantages of online auction like the convenience it provides in terms of location or the time zone of the people participating in an auction. You can have a lot more people participating across locations and various time zones.
  
• The other big advantage of this model is that one can provide a lot more information to the prospective buyers in order to make them more aware and confident about their purchase. Also, prices are updated in real time as the auction goes on, so the participants would know in case the bidding value rises.
  
• The other thing that one needs to understand is that the artists we feature should not be undiscovered or at the very beginning of their careers. They should be artists who have sort of established themselves in the primary market. Next, we look at the condition of the artwork.

Tips for someone starting to collect art:

• To start with, do your research, do your homework. To understand what you like and don’t like. Also, understand where the artist is coming from. What their background is, and their thought process while creating certain works of art.
  
• Second, seek advice and information from various sources. One can visit the galleries and speak with the gallerist. One can also go to various websites and read about the artist. Then there are independent art advisers as well who can help out if one is serious about building a collection.
  
• Buy from a credible source, and not just from anyone. Because you don’t know whether that person has checked the authenticity of the artwork or evaluated the conditions properly; whether there has been any restoration work done on that particular work of art. So it’s safer to go with an established gallery or auctioneer.
  
• O should develop one’s own taste. Of course, that will only happen over time. Because art is a very subjective thing, so what one person likes may be not liked by someone else. And finally, take good care of your art collection.